Please indicate who you chose and why.

As much as I wanted to choose Pedroia, my vote went to Mauer. He's a ridiculously good player at a position otherwise nearly completely void of ridiculously good players (which Pedroia can't say, with Kinsler and Roberts around.) He's got a chance to win his second batting title (as a catcher,) he gets on base at a great clip, throws out baserunners, and (even though there's no realistic way to measure his value here) his pitchers all have a good amount of relative success. Everybody assumed the Twins would tank minus Santana, and Mauer's the biggest reason why they're still in it.

Cy Young vote to Lee. His season's probably a fluke in the grand scheme while Halladay's isn't, but to be 22-3 with a sub-3 ERA on a .500 Cleveland team is something else. His K/BB ratio is off the charts, and if the Indians were going to the postseason, he'd probably be in the MVP discussion.

You put ARod on the ballot over Josh Hamilton? WTF.

I think that Mauer by a hair deserves it over Pedroia...BUT...I think Pedroia will win by a razor thin margin.

Very hard to argue against Cliff Lee.

I went with Pedroia and Halladay. Pedroia may not be the best all-around player, but I think his August helped ease Bay's debut and Manny's departure. I don't think there's a lights-out contender with a starter who's running away with it..so I went with Halladay, considering he's had 11 of 13 games with 3 ER allowed since the AS break. Lee's had 9 games since the AS break with 3 ER or less, but has scuffled a lil bit in last few starts.

I'm likely missing some specialized statistic that suggests Cliff Lee is the better choice, but Halladay defines a horse to me, and has dominated while his team threatened to make a season of it late.

I think that there needs to be some explanation...am I casting a vote based on who I think deserves it or who I think will win?

Like I said above...if I was voting, I'd probably lean towards voting for Mauer...but I think Pedroia will win it, so I voted for him here...

Mauer by a hair over Pedroia, Lee in a landslide.



Statswise it's not even close - ARod has the much higher OPS+. I doubt either has a chance because they do not deserve it, so it's a moot point anyway.

He's had just as good, if not a better, season.

Alright - what knucklehead is going to own up to voting F-Rod for MVP? Whoever it is, you were smart enough to not vote him for CY Young, but MVP? He's statistically the 4th or 5th best closer in the AL (excluding number of saves). The Angels have a 21.5 game lead in their division - you can't even argue he helped them win the division (over a "replacement level" closer)!

I voted for Mauer (because of the catcher position being thin and his contribution relative to his mediocre teammates) and Lee (dominating in most facets - wins and counting stats).

This is a tough choice..for MVP, I'd have to take Pedroia by the slimest of margins over Mauer while Lee gets my vote for being 22-3 on an otherwise bad Cleveland team this year. Pedroia over Mauer but count me in with the crowd that can easily see Mauer getting the hardware (and deservedly so)

ARod's numbers this year were strictly add-on stats. Ask any Yankee fan who watched him closely and they will admit the same. His most important number this year was 11 GIDP in August with the season on the line, he tanked their chances.
He compiled meaningless numbers this year while Hamilton was the best player in the MLB in the first half by far.
Take your ARod garbage stats and shove 'em.

They don't give out first-half awards. It's a full season award.

His numbers in the second half amounted to a .854 OPS. For a sub-500 team.

You don't have to like Alex Rodriguez (I don't), but his numbers, over the full season, on a better team, in a tougher ballpark, in a tougher division, were better.

Lots of Yankee fans (and non-Yankee fans, apparently) have a blind spot when it comes to A-Rod, he's sort of like the J.D. Drew of New York, but to a greater degree. I mean, A-Rod did ground into some double plays, but do you honestly believe he was a net negative for the team? Put it this way, if he were replaced in the lineup with someone like Morgan Ensberg for the entire season, NY might actually have finished 2008 in last place. Last place.

Hamilton has 27 win shares and A-Rod has 23 (link), but A-Rod's team will finish a few games out of the wild card, while Hamilton's team was out of contention pretty early. By the generally accepted parameters of the MVP Award, A-Rod deserves it more.

I voted for Pedroia because Minnesota is going to miss the playoffs.

i agree with this. i find it really, really difficult to give the MVP to somebody who's team isn't in the playoffs unless the player's numbers make you think "holy christ, that's unbelievable"

The argument for Lee is pretty obvious so I won't waste time with it. For MVP, I chose Pedroia, and here's why. I'm taking the most valuable route, not best player route. Pedroia literally carried the Red Sox through a really rough period of injuries. His season stats are definitely there. .324/.375/.492 with 208 hits (leads the majors), 117 runs (leads AL, 2nd in the majors) and 53 doubles (leads the majors). But what he did in June, July and August when the Sox were dealing with injuries to David Ortiz, Julio Lugo, Mike Lowell, JD Drew, Sean Casey and to a lesser extent, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis. Nevermind coming through huge during the Manny drama.

His OPS in June was .952, it was .884 in July and 1.060 in August (which I'd argue was the month we were hit hardest by injuries). Without Pedroia's incredible run, I don't think we're talking about the Wild Card being locked up at this point.

Why are you so sure Minnesota is out of it? 1.5 games back, its next series with the Royals, while the Wrong Sox have to play the relatively hot Indians.

ARod is unarguably the MVP of the yankees. Hamilton loses MVP votes to both Kinsler and Bradley.

And I don't think that should even matter. Sure I don't like giving MVP to losing teams, but a team that finishes 1 game back was in the playoff race as much as the team who finished 1 game up.

Personally I think if the framers of the MVP award knew it would have this ridiculous context attached to it that could justify any grudge, excuse or poor attempt at sensationalization for not voting for the best player, they would have just called it the Best Player Award. In other words, either of the M&M Twins.

I would say Mariano would be the MVP of the Yanks and that Kinsler and Bradley lost too much time due to injury but that's highly arguable.
I have no idea who the AL MVP will be, it's a tough year to figure. I will say that the best team in the MLB that I saw all year from day one was undoubtedly the LAAAAA Angels, but who best represents them as an MVP candidate? I guess that would be K-Rod but the save stat is on pretty dicey ground esp. since they were padding his save numbers from the start. Should be the most divided vote ever, while Lee should win the CYA by almost unanimous consent.

I went with Sizemore and Holliday. Sizemore's numbers are simply to good to ignore.

Same reason I went with Youkilis.

June OPS: .969
July OPS: 927
August OPS: 1.079

Took over form Manny in the 4-hole with no issues for the team.

Able to cover 1st base and 3rd base defensively (which helps since Lowell's injury).

He's no slouch in the various clutch categories.

I know certain clutch stats (WPA, I suppose) have Pedroia as more valuable. Perhaps he is even more clutch than Youkilis. But, I am a big fan of consistency. And, looking at Youkilis' stats... he is the model of consistency.

Not that I have any problem with Pedroia getting the award... 2nd Baseman tend to be underrated by Baseball Writers (see MVP voting/HOF voting).

I guess I'm the oddball. I went with Carlos Pena. Just plain awful start to the year, but he has absolutely carried the Rays on his back since June. Has seemed to have just a ton of clutch hits (huge numbers in that close and late stat), and he has put up Monster numbers against the Sox this year

I interpreted this as who do I think WILL win rather than should win.

As such, I'm fairly certain Pedroia wins the MVP. He's had a phenomenal clutch year for a contending team that's goign to the postseason. He's short and white and is a quote gold mine. He's everything the writers love to write about. He's David Eckstein only with a smartass mouth and, y'know, actually GOOD at baseball.

Cliff Lee for the Cy Young. He's going to win it and he deserves it. The year he's had is beyond absurd.

I think the premise that "most valuable" is different than "best player" is garbage. The best player earns his team the most wins. Period. I don't care whether he brings them from 60 to 70 wins or from 90 to 100. He was still the most valuable.

I voted for Mauer because he's having a ridiculously good offensive season for a catcher, and....well, he's a catcher, which makes him an important defensive player as well.

I hope Pedroia wins the real vote, though, because I love the guy.

What? no they aren't.

People want to make Sizemore in to this generations Griffey. He's not. Sizemore is a good player, but he's not even close to the best in the league, he's just the best CF in a very weak time for CF's in the AL.

???

Don't blame Joe Mauer for the Twins keeping Liriano in the minors so long. Mauer's slash rates are 327/413/449. The MLB average for catchers are 255/323/388. Comparatively, Pedroia has put up 325/376/494 numbers with the MLB average at second base being 274/337/407. In other words, Mauer has put up better numbers (if you assume 1 point of OBP is worth 2-4 points of SLG) at a weaker position. I love Pedroia, but Mauer has been more valuable for a playoff-caliber team.

I voted Pedroia and Lee. The wins and ERA will give this thing to Lee, the K/BB is ridiculous...but if I was picking a pitcher for my team I'd still go with Doc every time; Halladay's the better pitcher, but Lee's had the better season.

Pedroia was kind of a homer pick, the more I think about it Mauer is probably the MVP whether they make the playoffs or not. Interesting that he's not even being mentioned; the media seems to be painting this as DP vs. Morneau.

It's interesting that a guy with an 18-2 record and a 162 ERA+ isn't even sniffing the CY discussion. You can point to Lee's dominance as the reason but I'd be willing to bet that if you threw out Lee's season the overwhelming consensus would be Halladay, with still no consideration for Matsuzaka. I'm NOT saying he ought to win by any means, but he's had quite a year.

Pretty sure the poster mean Halladay not Holliday.

I went with Pedroia. Although I think if Minnesota wins the division it'll go to Mauer.

No, about Sizemore's numbers being too good to ignore.

I'm surprised by the lack of votes for Morneau. Mauer's wonderful, but there's a guy on his own team with 47 more RBIs! I'm not saying this makes Morneau a better choice, but I think the voting here is not very representative of the real world's perception. Maybe that's good though.

Anyway, I went with Pedroia. While I don't have any sophisticated numbers to back up my suspician that he's been very good defensively this year, this subjective opinion has factored into my decision. And offensively he's been, well, we all know that.

And while Halladay's had yet another great year, there's really no way to get past Cliff Lee.

Morneau is hitting 308/381/514. Good numbers, and I had forgotten how down offense has been over the last two years (he's got the same OPS+ as he did in 06 when his OPS was 40 points higher) but that's not mind blowing offense for a 1st baseman, particularly one who isn't hellacious defensively. Maybe if he was Keith Hernandez or something.

Also Mauer is a lot of those RBIs, and Mauer's likely going to score 100 runs this year. He's got 97 now. Mike Piazza only did that twice, and I'd imagine it's uncommon for a catcher to score 100 runs. Fisk did it once, Berra did it once, etc.

I really don't like this argument. So for a player to be "eligible" (my term) for MVP, they have to make the playoffs unless they had an A-Rod type season like in 2003 for Texas? So a team that is in the playoff race until the last day, but gets eliminated, cannot have MVP-eligible players? To me, the fact that teams get close and stay in the race until the end (and I am meaning more than the last day) have players just as valuable as the players on the teams that make it. I just can't understand that logic. I agree that if you are on a player on a last place team that you do need to have "wow" numbers to prove you have value, but the teams that get close should get just as much credit as the teams that get in the playoffs. Individual players have a relatively small impact over the team's season, even the best players. It is still a team game.

I voted for Mauer barely over Pedroia and Youk, and Lee.

Edit: Added my votes

I hardly disagree. But it sems to me that Mauer's chances in the real world are very remote. Here's the only recent piece I could find on this subject at MLB.com: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

I know the article is a couple of weeks old and downright silly at times ("Belying his team's name, Morneau has been virtually an only child in Minnesota's offense"), but Mauer's name doesn't even make the "Honorable Mention" section. I'll be surprised is he gets many votes from the writers.

I went with Carlos Pena and Cliff Lee. The reason I went with Pena? He's hit 20 home runs and 64 RBIs since July 1, and he's carried the Rays to some clutch, clutch wins against the Red Sox and others with Longoria and Crawford on the bench. The .247 average isn't great, but he's still got 31 home runs and 101 RBIs. While Pedroia and Morneau have better numbers, I think Pena's been the most valuable player in the Rays maybe winning the AL East.

So A-Rod's stats are garbage because he grounded into some double plays with the season on the line, whilst you're arguing for a guy on the basis that he was Mr. May?



I tend to think that players on 'contenders' will get consideration. If the Twins get very, very close, then Mauer will certainly not be penalised for his team the way that either of the above will. More of a problem might be the Morneau vote split.

Certainly, Mauer is my pick.

Pedroia leads the AL in hits, doubles, runs scored and has a chance to win the batting title. In a year where the Sox missed Ortiz for 2 months and had to deal with the circus that was Manny Ramirez I think Pedroia is a no brainer.

Mauer plays catcher, and has a better chance to win the batting title, and also a much better OBP. He doesn't have gaudy counting stats, but then... he's a catcher.

Mauer and Lee.

The numbers that Joe Mauer puts up as a catcher continue to amaze. He has 36 points of BA, 67 points of OBP, and 48 points of SLG on Navarro, his closest positional competition this season, and he's done it while leading all AL catchers in ABs. He's also taken 82 walks vs. only 47 strikeouts. Mauer is the MVP because no position player's production is more difficult to replace. In my mind, it's just that simple.

Youkilis and Lee.

Lee is the easy choice for Cy Young. You can't ignore a 22-3 record and a league leading ERA, even if there are much better ways to judge the worth of a pitcher.

I think Pedroia has had an unreal season. I do - but I think Youkilis's has been better. Not only does Youkilis have the edge in the sexy MVP stats, HRs and RBIs, but he also gives the Sox incredible flexibility by playing a GG 1st Base and an above average 3rd Base.

Mauer has the BA, and he is a catcher, but I really think his candidacy swings on whether or not the Twins make the playoffs. If they do, the race closes.

Any of Mauer, Pedroia, and Youkilis could be the MVP and I'd agree with the decision. I would not, however, if Morneau won it.

Josh Hamilton: 32 HR, 128 RBI, .307 BA/.374 OBP/.536 SLG/.909 OPS.....Maybe put him on the list next time?

For a 6th or 7th place vote? Hamilton never was deserving of serious consideration, especially now considering his 2nd half.

I voted Pedroia and I'd probably put Youkilis down as 2nd. And it's not only because I watch them everyday, the seasons that they are having are just that good compared to the rest of the league this year.

Mauer is having a good year for sure, but I can't see putting him before Pedroia. Yes he's a good defensive catcher who hits for a high average and gets on base so obviously there's great value there. But Pedroia also hits for average, plays a middle infield position and has 30 more extra base hits. 30!

As for Morneau, I can't believe he's getting nearly as much attention as he is. Big RBI totals, but nothing else that shows him having much of a better year than the rest of the gang. Just looking at the numbers alone I'd take Youk over him in a heartbeat.

Well Pedroia's had over 100 more plate appearances than Mauer, which is not a negligible amount. Mauer's got the better OPS+ since Fenway is more of a hitter's park than Minneapolis, but that's a lot of value Pedroia has that Mauer doesn't have.

I'd still be inclined to vote Mauer just because catchers are never going to accumulate big counting stats because they're catchers and catchers who are good offensively are rare, but Pedoria's definitely a better pick than anybody else. Certainly better than Morneau, who is getting MVP consideration for a year no better than a half dozen 1Bs have every year. Ironically he's only got 23 home runs, and I kind of think voters get a stiffy at a guy leading the league in RBI despite having comparatively few home runs.

If Youkilis hits that 30th Home Run, he's got to be considered a frontrunner.

I'd go Mauer for AL MVP, assuming the Twins win the division and he wins the batting title, but it's really close.

It would really suck if Morneau wins it again because of his RBI numbers, he didn't deserve it in 2006 and he doesn't deserve it this year. I can't see how you vote Morneau when he hasn't even been the best 1B in the AL, when the best one plays on a better team that is in the playoffs for sure. Youkilis would be my 2nd pick, he's 2nd in the AL in OPS, he's played great defense in 1B and solid D in 3B and he's even batted in 7 differnet lineup spots for the Red Sox. Pedroia has been great but I just view Youkilis as more valuable.

Going to make a case for Halladay in a seperate post...

It seems like people have had their minds made up about Cliff Lee since the all star break. But for me it's definitely Roy Halladay. The last time Doc struck out 200 batters in a season was when he won the CY Young in 2003. He has done it again this year. 9 CG with pitch counts of 110, 117, 107, 112 (back to back to back to back starts btw) 104, 115 (shutout), 110 (shutout), 111, and 96. How many times has Matsuzaka left a game in the 5th with a pitch count of 100? Yea, what Doc is doing in this time and age of pitching is remarkable.

What I think the writers will do is look at the win total (no shit) but then dig a littler deeper into run support. They are going to find that the Blue Jays gave Doc 4.61 of RS while Lee's RS was 5.58. Then they'll rationalize that Doc would have won at least 25 games with the Indian offense. Plus his 246 IP w/ 39BB/206SO will factor in immensely, and the little factoid that Halladay pitched in the AL east, which could possible end up with three 90 win teams (excluding the BJs of course).

I think it'll be a lot closer than this poll shows.

I voted for Cliff Lee but I can see why someone would vote for Halladay and I have to agree with rembrat that what he's doing this season is pretty remarkable. It seems a little strange that the Webb vs. Lincecum debate gets a lot of ink, while Lee has been anointed the Cy Young for months, and Halladay doesn't get nearly any consideration.